If it says MP, the cards are not properly initialized for a one-way device (Tivo). It's not a pairing issue. Same problem I had back in the summer. Did you call the cablecard support number???

I did last night, but the young woman was not able the solve the problem. I will try again tonight, armed with this information, and if the tech does not seem to be able to help/understand, I will ask for a Supervisor. Thank you in advance for the help. Perhaps, with this information, they might be able to fix the problem.

They are Motorola cards, crazi4tv. Thank you for your assistance, as well!

I did last night, but the young woman was not able the solve the problem. I will try again tonight, armed with this information, and if the tech does not seem to be able to help/understand, I will ask for a Supervisor. Thank you in advance for the help. Perhaps, with this information, they might be able to fix the problem.

They are Motorola cards, crazi4tv. Thank you for your assistance, as well!

One common problem that happens is that billing codes are incorrect or missing. Verify that for each cablecard that you have installed that your cable provider has a service code: if you have 4 cards, their system must have 4 cablecard service codes. Also, per the previous poster the card must be "initilized". If the proper signals are not sent, then the card will not decrypt all your channels.

If you are only receiving unencrypted channels, go to the Diagnostic screen. First, tune to a channels which is not coming in & press Record. Go to TiVo Central, select Messages & Settings, Account & System Information, Diagnostics. Look for Channel List Received YES means the channel map has downloaded, NO means the card was unable to acquire a channel map, either because the card was never activated, not paired correctly or because it is not receiving a signal.

A couple of things to check on the Conditional Access screen is Con:Yes which means that the card is connected to the cable system. Also look for Val:V which means that the cable system has verified the Host ID (unique 13 digit ID of the Tuner) is valid which occurs if pairing is good. if you see Val:? than the Host was not verified as being valid. Towards the bottom of the screen, look for Auth, if you see anything other than S than that channel is not subscribed for viewing which is caused by either a service code issue or the card was not properly initialized.

Post back what is on those screens

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I am happy to say that, after another call to the Comcast Cablecard Support Line, and the help of the forum members here, my issues with the multi-stream cablecards are resolved. I was very pleasant, but firm, with the phone tech in explaining that I needed her to initialize the card. She tried to tell me several times that the cards are initialized before leaving the warehouse, and that sending an initialization signal could damage the cards (?), but I convinced her to do it anyway. Within moments, each of the two M cards started functioning properly.

Now, I have to hope they bring the remaining cards I need tomorrow, and if the problem occurs again, I know what to do. Hope this helps others who find themselves in a similar situation. Thanks crazy4tv, roderigo, and slowbiscuit for the helpful advice!

I am happy to say that, after another call to the Comcast Cablecard Support Line, and the help of the forum members here, my issues with the multi-stream cablecards are resolved. I was very pleasant, but firm, with the phone tech in explaining that I needed her to initialize the card. She tried to tell me several times that the cards are initialized before leaving the warehouse, and that sending an initialization signal could damage the cards (?), but I convinced her to do it anyway. Within moments, each of the two M cards started functioning properly.

Now, I have to hope they bring the remaining cards I need tomorrow, and if the problem occurs again, I know what to do. Hope this helps others who find themselves in a similar situation. Thanks crazy4tv, roderigo, and slowbiscuit for the helpful advice!

She is RIGHT and WRONG.

They are Initialized at the Warehouse - ONLY IF THEY ARE
PLUGGED INTO ONE OF COMCAST's BOXES

This procedure saves the Tech's time when they are installing
a Comcast Box.

If only everybody's experience could go like mine-
I stopped by the local office here in Lynnwood WA and asked for a cable card (extended basic analog account). The rep went into the back and came back with a Motorolla M card, printed up a receipt, I signed it and left - took all of about 5 minutes.
Got home and placed it into the Tivo HD, called up Comcast, gave the rep my host id and data numbers, and a few minutes later was up and working.

^^ did you end up getting bumped to the Digital Starter package. When I did this for my folks (I went to the Redmond Store) I was shocked to find that when the card was paired they were receiving the Dig starter package (SciFiHD, DiscHD, etc...). I called them up and they said that when you get a cableCARD you are automactically bumped up to this teir and the cost was the same. Who knew?

^^ did you end up getting bumped to the Digital Starter package. When I did this for my folks (I went to the Redmond Store) I was shocked to find that when the card was paired they were receiving the Dig starter package (SciFiHD, DiscHD, etc...). I called them up and they said that when you get a cableCARD you are automactically bumped up to this teir and the cost was the same. Who knew?

Yes, I've now got ESPN, ESPN2, Vs, Discovery, TNT, Universal and a few others in HD.

Nothing but extreme frustration here. Four comcast techs have come out to no avail. The first three were utterly worthless the last seemed to be doing a decent job. Tivo's cablecard hotline hasn't been much more help either. My problem is that with the m-card installed I get absolutely no video or audio. Nothing.

I think my problem lies in the conditional access screen. All that is listed on that screen is:

Unit address:
Encryption: DES
Con:Yes EBCP: Yes Val:V 0x00

and then nothing but a blank screen. No letters numbers nothing else exists on this screen. No Auth: whatsoever.

I have just purchased a TivoHD and have read through posts from the past few months on this thread and think I know the answer, but of course, Comcast is truly useless when I called them.

I am in Waltham, Mass (Boston area). A few questions:

1. Do they have M-stream cable cards? I spoke to a CSR at Comcast to request an install for an m-stream card and she stated that they don't have them in Boston. I requested a supervisor, who again seemed to indicate that they don't have M-stream cables cards (although claimed that she knew they have them in California). I asked her (multiple times) to note on the work order that I wanted an M-stream card.

Is she clueless? Do they in fact have M-stream cards in Boston area? Will the (probably clueless as well) installer bring a M-stream card even though the CSR/supervisor claimed that they don't have them? (Yes, I know, the odds of the installer even bringing a cable card are pretty slim, but I can hope).

2. What would the proper cost be for an M-stream or 2 S-stream cards? I currently have:

I think that if I get an M-card, my monthly fees will not change because the Comcast HD-DVR counts as my "free" outlet, therefore, even though the cablecard is free, the outlet isn.t. If I end up with 2 S-cards, my monthly Comcast fee goes up $1.50 for a second "stream" on the outlet.

I hope someone might help me out. I have comcast, with expanded basic cable, which includes the HD lineup... No digital, no hdtv special package. I have two tivoHD's. I got the living room one more than a year ago, it has 2 single stream cards in it, and it works fine.

A month ago i picked up another Tivo HD for my bedroom, and the tech came out to stick in the cable card. Well... a month later, and it still doesn't work. I've had 4 different techs come out, and this last one even sat with me on the phone with TiVo to try to troubleshoot this. TiVo is supposed to call me back today.

Here's what it does:
We insert a M-stream card in. We get the screen with the host and CC#. Tech calls it in. We get the hits... all looks well. We go to test channels, and the only channels we can test are HBO, HBO2, Showtime, and somethine else. They're all grey (But i'm not supposed to get them). I get a grey screen on all the digital channels, Nothing else comes in... except the analog. Now the analog channels are mostly wrong. 5 is Fox, and the tivo guide shows that, but it's showing comcast net (cn8). Government access shows QVC.. etc.etc.

the guide is correct, it's just most of the analog channels are mapped wrong. Every digital channel shows a Grey Screen.

The tech is blaming v11, but it did the same thing for the 2 weeks before with v 9.4. Tivo says it has to be the cable company.
The tech said he checked and the rates codes are all the same across each cable card.

Some other intresting tidbits:
I was able to recieve the locals in HD via clear QAM prior to the cable cards. The analog channels work fine if I don't have the cable cards in there. He tried using 2 Mstream cards, same result. Every single stream card they try comes up with an "Upgrading firmware" screen. We've let it try to upgrade 3 cards, waiting 2 hours for the first two, and 24 hours with the last one. The tech said they have no more single stream cards, are aren't ordering new ones.

I have a cable box as well as an 'M-stream' cable card (for the TiVo) from Comcast. I'm being charged an extra $5 for the cable card. I decided that I don't need the cable box (I was using only for 'on-demand') so I tried returning it to Comcast. I thought this would remove the extra $5 'additional digital outlet' fee.

No go. Comcast's story is that the cable box is included with my 'package'. The 'additional digital outlet' fee can only be removed if I drop the package -- which would be more expensive than just leaving the cable box on a shelf.

I hate these guys.

But I do have to say the the cable card TiVo HD install went pretty smoothly and I haven't had any issues for the 9 months that I've had it.

An update on this: Comcast recently changed the terms of their package, so that it comes with either a cable box or a cablecard. This time I was able to return the box to Comcast and the $5 'additional digital outlet' fee was removed. Of course the change in policy was accompanied by a price increase for the basic digital tier of programming (which I pay for, cable box or no), so I still hate these guys.

I hope someone might help me out. I have comcast, with expanded basic cable, which includes the HD lineup... No digital, no hdtv special package. I have two tivoHD's. I got the living room one more than a year ago, it has 2 single stream cards in it, and it works fine.

A month ago i picked up another Tivo HD for my bedroom, and the tech came out to stick in the cable card. Well... a month later, and it still doesn't work. I've had 4 different techs come out, and this last one even sat with me on the phone with TiVo to try to troubleshoot this. TiVo is supposed to call me back today.

Here's what it does:
We insert a M-stream card in. We get the screen with the host and CC#. Tech calls it in. We get the hits... all looks well. We go to test channels, and the only channels we can test are HBO, HBO2, Showtime, and somethine else. They're all grey (But i'm not supposed to get them). I get a grey screen on all the digital channels, Nothing else comes in... except the analog. Now the analog channels are mostly wrong. 5 is Fox, and the tivo guide shows that, but it's showing comcast net (cn8). Government access shows QVC.. etc.etc.

the guide is correct, it's just most of the analog channels are mapped wrong. Every digital channel shows a Grey Screen.

The tech is blaming v11, but it did the same thing for the 2 weeks before with v 9.4. Tivo says it has to be the cable company.
The tech said he checked and the rates codes are all the same across each cable card.

Some other intresting tidbits:
I was able to recieve the locals in HD via clear QAM prior to the cable cards. The analog channels work fine if I don't have the cable cards in there. He tried using 2 Mstream cards, same result. Every single stream card they try comes up with an "Upgrading firmware" screen. We've let it try to upgrade 3 cards, waiting 2 hours for the first two, and 24 hours with the last one. The tech said they have no more single stream cards, are aren't ordering new ones.

Be sure to repeat guided setup after the cable cards are paired. This might help since the bad mapping suggests you do not have it set up for the correct cable system.

It is my understanding that the TiVo HD supports either 2 S-Cards or 1 M-Card (M is for multiple - it can do the function of multiple S-cards). My manual says that if slot 1 contains an M-card, anything in slot 2 will be ignored.

Also, the original Tivo Series 3 units do not support M-Cards - they have to have 2 S-cards (unless this has been changes in a software update).

It is my understanding that the TiVo HD supports either 2 S-Cards or 1 M-Card (M is for multiple - it can do the function of multiple S-cards). My manual says that if slot 1 contains an M-card, anything in slot 2 will be ignored.

Also, the original Tivo Series 3 units do not support M-Cards - they have to have 2 S-cards (unless this has been changes in a software update).

My original Tivo Series 3 is working with two M-cards.
...and my new Tivo HD XL is working with one M-card.

I just got a new HD XL box. Although I only subscribe to Comcast Basic, I was able to search out a bunch of digital channels with long numbers such as 85-104. They appear in the channel lineup with a * and they are not identified otherwise. After reading through this forum, I think I've figured out that I will need an M-card or two S-cards in order to correlate the digital channels with the guide data. Without the cablecards, I would only be able to watch these channels live or record manually, but I would not be able to schedule recordings from the guide data. Is this correct?
My service is from Comcast in Fauquier County VA, formerly Adelphia. Does anybody know if the cablecard will let me access all the same channels I'm getting free now without upgrading my lineup?

we have. The same guided setup process nets us the correct channel lineup when not using the cable cards.

It seems like it must be something where the wrong channels are mapped to the wrong frequencies. Each side is blaming it on the other.

The problem you are having is caused by an incorrect channel map, more than likely because an incorrect Headend code is on your cable account. Call your cable provider and ask to speak to a supervisor; ask him/her to verify that the Headend code on your account is correct. If it is not correct, it must be updated, then the card needs to be initialized.

One area to check on your TiVo is the Diagnostics screen. Look for Channel List Received:-if you see YES than the channel map was received by the cablecard.

__________________
people who say you can't buy happiness just don't know where to shop

I just got a new HD XL box. Although I only subscribe to Comcast Basic, I was able to search out a bunch of digital channels with long numbers such as 85-104. They appear in the channel lineup with a * and they are not identified otherwise. After reading through this forum, I think I've figured out that I will need an M-card or two S-cards in order to correlate the digital channels with the guide data. Without the cablecards, I would only be able to watch these channels live or record manually, but I would not be able to schedule recordings from the guide data. Is this correct?
My service is from Comcast in Fauquier County VA, formerly Adelphia. Does anybody know if the cablecard will let me access all the same channels I'm getting free now without upgrading my lineup?

Cablecards are designed to scramble encrypted channels that you do not subscribe to. In otherwords, if you get a cablecard installed, you will only receive channels that are part of the package that you are paying for which in your case is Basic. You will need to rerun the Guided Setup and within 24 hours your program & channel information on the Guide should correspond to whatever is playing on that channel.

__________________
people who say you can't buy happiness just don't know where to shop

Having only read the 1st 10pages and the last ten pages, I will apologize in advance if my question/post is a dup.

Background
My situation: We have two S2 tivos and have for years, so I'm not a Tivo newb. We have one HD TV (component = Yes, 720P = yes, 1080x = ??) and no HD tuner so I am an HD newb. I've gotten my wife an HD XL for Christmas to replace the S2 on the HD TV and wish to have it configured, guide loaded, CC installed and operation, and re-boxed for Christmas.

Comcast Office: Went to their office (Fayetteville, GA) in hopes of getting a cable card. Was told they did not provide them, tech install only. They also told me that they didn't have M stream cards and I would need to acquire (and pay for) 2 S stream cards. I argued and they found they had some M cards after checking... Next, I was told that cable cards for Tivo were $1.50/mo. I argued, and she showed me the data entry screen. It only offers two options "Cable Card - $ 0.00" and "Tivo CCard2 - $1.50". Assuming that the second option is for a 2nd card, I elected "Cable Card - $ 0.00" and was warned that he would arrive with the wrong card and I would also pay for a re-schedule to fix it. I persisted and scheduled the install. No mention of an "outlet fee" or any other type of monthly fee. Scheduled for 12/19

404-Comcast: I called to confirm the "cable Card - $ 0.00" was for a M-stream card. She said no, I was scheduled for an S. I reconfirmed that I could get a single M-stream for $0.00 and she agreed. Service request was noted to bring multiple M-stream cards for a Tivo install.

Question:
- I think I have covered all the pointers here to have the best shot at a successful install. Am I missing anything?

Just as a FYI, the cost of CableCards went from $5 per card to $6.95 on my latest billing statement. I'm in the Boston area. I don't get either one for free, so people in my area may want to keep that in mind.

The problem you are having is caused by an incorrect channel map, more than likely because an incorrect Headend code is on your cable account. Call your cable provider and ask to speak to a supervisor; ask him/her to verify that the Headend code on your account is correct. If it is not correct, it must be updated, then the card needs to be initialized.

One area to check on your TiVo is the Diagnostics screen. Look for Channel List Received:-if you see YES than the channel map was received by the cablecard.

Thanks for the info... I havn't called yet, but I have a question. We have 2 Tivo HD's. The one in the living room is working fine, and has been for a year. It's the new one that's acting up. Is it possible for the account to have more than 1 headend code... ie a different lineup programmed for the second m-stream card?

Thanks for the info... I havn't called yet, but I have a question. We have 2 Tivo HD's. The one in the living room is working fine, and has been for a year. It's the new one that's acting up. Is it possible for the account to have more than 1 headend code... ie a different lineup programmed for the second m-stream card?

The Headend code listed on your account will be the same for all your equipment, whether it is TiVo or cable company STB. On the TiVo that is having the problem, check the Diagnostics screen and see if Channel List Received shows YES or NO. This indicates if the channel map (or channel listings) for your subscribed channels have downloaded to the cablecard. It is possible that the headend code is incorrect on your account. The Headend can change headend codes assigned to a specific area and since the other TiVo has been working fine for a year, it is possible the headend code on your account changed since the card was installed on your first TiVo and your cable provider may not have sent any signals to reset the card(s) in it, which can be why when you tune to a channel, the guide matches what is displayed . This may not make sense to you, but it is one possibility why your new TiVo's channel guide does not match what you see on that channel.

__________________
people who say you can't buy happiness just don't know where to shop

404-Comcast: I called to confirm the "cable Card - $ 0.00" was for a M-stream card. She said no, I was scheduled for an S. I reconfirmed that I could get a single M-stream for $0.00 and she agreed. Service request was noted to bring multiple M-stream cards for a Tivo install.

Question:
- I think I have covered all the pointers here to have the best shot at a successful install. Am I missing anything?

Yep, you missed the tech showing up at your door with an a) HD DVR and no cards, because 'the warehouse is out of stock or they're all broken', or b) 2 S-cards, neither of which were initialized correctly. And that's assuming they don't cancel multiple visits first.

If you get a tech with one or more M-cards, at least one of which works without multiple phone calls, I'll be amazed. Comcast in the ATL is teh suck for these. Let us know how it goes.

I hope someone might help me out. I have comcast, with expanded basic cable, which includes the HD lineup... No digital, no hdtv special package. I have two tivoHD's. I got the living room one more than a year ago, it has 2 single stream cards in it, and it works fine.

A month ago i picked up another Tivo HD for my bedroom, and the tech came out to stick in the cable card. Well... a month later, and it still doesn't work. I've had 4 different techs come out, and this last one even sat with me on the phone with TiVo to try to troubleshoot this. TiVo is supposed to call me back today.

Here's what it does:
We insert a M-stream card in. We get the screen with the host and CC#. Tech calls it in. We get the hits... all looks well. We go to test channels, and the only channels we can test are HBO, HBO2, Showtime, and somethine else. They're all grey (But i'm not supposed to get them). I get a grey screen on all the digital channels, Nothing else comes in... except the analog. Now the analog channels are mostly wrong. 5 is Fox, and the tivo guide shows that, but it's showing comcast net (cn8). Government access shows QVC.. etc.etc.

the guide is correct, it's just most of the analog channels are mapped wrong. Every digital channel shows a Grey Screen.

The tech is blaming v11, but it did the same thing for the 2 weeks before with v 9.4. Tivo says it has to be the cable company.
The tech said he checked and the rates codes are all the same across each cable card.

Some other intresting tidbits:
I was able to recieve the locals in HD via clear QAM prior to the cable cards. The analog channels work fine if I don't have the cable cards in there. He tried using 2 Mstream cards, same result. Every single stream card they try comes up with an "Upgrading firmware" screen. We've let it try to upgrade 3 cards, waiting 2 hours for the first two, and 24 hours with the last one. The tech said they have no more single stream cards, are aren't ordering new ones.

Ho-ly crap! You wouldn't happen to be around Clarks Summit, PA, would you? [Oh. Your profile says No. VA] I'm having, word for word, *exactly* the same problem. Right down to which channels are screwed up and the improper channels they're showing.

I've been back and forth with Comcast for a month now. Though, the first half of the month involved:

Sales Rep when I verified to order: "Yes, HD is available on Limited Basic"

CSR to Tech who was at my house for 2 hours, only had MC cards, and stated that MC cards don't work with the Tivo: "You can't get it working because HD isn't available on Limited Basic"

CSR I called later: "Don't know why they said that. You can definitely have HD on LB."

Tech on phone before his visit: "You can't have HD on LB on a Tivo HD. The line traps that limit the channels weaken the signal too much. But Standard Basic signal [$60/mo, as opposed to $16/mo for LB] is strong enough."

CSR on the phone, who powwows with a supervisor and the tech team: "It turns out that HD definitely doesn't work with LB on the Tivo HD. Just let me force-feed you this Standard Basic package and we'll all be happy." [He finally gave me the new customer Digital Starter for $40/mo/6mo when I unleashed on him]

Tech at my house, who had a few MC and 1 SC cards: "There it is! Looks like we got it working! [with an MC card] I don't see the HD channels, though. I'll schedule another tech to come tomorrow." [My Tivo tests channel 14, which was fine. But then I checked other channels and nothing was where it was supposed to be. Things like Sci-Fi on Nick, Jr or whatever.]

Tech he sent tomorrow comes back and explains that the problem is the channel mapping, that it's definitely on the Comcast side, that it's an issue with the MC cards, and that there isn't a known fix. He explains with the tone that it's no biggie that the MC will work fine and that I'll get all my channels... They'll just be all mixed up...

Me: "And what of my HD?"

Tech he sent tomorrow: "Well... That won't work until the channel mapping is straightened out..."

Me, banging head on wall.....

He also explains that the cable run in my house is RG-59, the old stuff, and that HD won't work at all over it. *rolleyes* I call and they send another guy the next day. He's the *one and only* tech who has ever gotten a Tivo to work with cable cards. And that was the one and only time he was able. Though, later, he blamed it on the new v11 update and that he's had others working on v9.x. "Others"? Isn't that a plural word? Heh. So, he's not able to make it happen this time. The SC cards won't upgrade their firmware. The card shows an error that the Tivo doesn't have the data it needs. The dude says Tivos are crap and no one should use them, that the Comcast DVR works just fine and there's really no difference. Oy.

I got him to leave me a cable box, a SC, and a MC card. I tried box to Tivo to no avail, hoping beyond hope that even if the Tivo docs say it won't work with boxes it might just happen to this time. SC still won't upgrade. MC still has mixed up channels. These are Scientific Atlanta cards and cable box.

That was Saturday. I had to go away for a funeral. And now here I sit. One thing I don't get is that I see a Motorola card thread brimming with success stories. Why can't Comcast yell "Yay, Motorola!", throw a party, and roll out Motorola cards to areas like mine?

For fun I'll mention that I've either interacted with or had touch my ticket over the last month - 26 individual Comcast employees and contractors, including numerous general supervisors, a regional supervisor, tech supervisors, and 6 on-site techs across 5 visits.

PS - Since beginning to write this a couple days ago and having to come back to finish it (I shouldn't be so wordy, heh), I took a whack at it again and looked a little deeper. As far as the SC issue goes, these guys need a smack in the head. The last guy who was here said he had come from a house where they let the SC cards sit "upgrading" for 24 hours and that they hadn't finished yet. During the attempt here, as I questioned stuff, he pointed out that we couldn't get to the CC menus during the upgrade and would just have to sit here and wait. He had the controller. Today, I had the controller. It took me 30 seconds to hop over to the DVR Diagnostics menu, find my way down to the card, and find that an OOB (Out Of Band) connection was never established. *rolleyes* Let it sit for 3 weeks if you want, Comclowns. If it can't download the firmware, the upgrade is never going to finish... At least now I can make them aware of that fact and they can focus on the data connection instead of assuming the card/Tivo is unable to process the upgrade...

Not having time to read literally hundreds of posts and threads about the issue, does anyone know of anyone who has NEVER been able to get service working? I really, really, really don't want to have to waste the $$$ I spent on the Tivo I love (got it on a spectacular sale from Tivo months ago and can't be returned) and give into the company that is at the top of my list of most hated things in the world. If walking, talking, baby-eating giant cancer monsters responsible for destroying all the chocolate in the world existed, I'd still hate Comcast more. The 2 of us have a bit of a tumultuous past.

At the moment you get two people at your local Comcast office who can't agree on what should or should not work, the best thing to do is to write a normal, paper letter to Comcast's corporate headquarters in Philadelphia detailing your issue and asking for help resolving the problem.

It really is the only headache-free way to get issues resolved; It's not our job to teach Comcast employees theirs. And corporate is about the only group at Comcast that seems to understand that.

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Has anyone tried the 'downgrade after the cards are activated' route yet with Comcast? I'm using their HD DVRs right now, my 2nd and 3rd Tivo HDs are arriving today, and I'm considering trying to get an M card installed in each before I go down and take back their DVRs and drop my service to Limited Basic.

I'm wondering what they'll do when I drop to a non-digital service but I still have the M cards on my account...